After winning the evaluated ranking on gps3 in 2009 and 2010 i really wanted to win this ranking again in 2011. Sadly for me Hans his level is rising so much that it is impossible for me to win if we always sail on the same spot. Some people noticed we are not sailing together anymore in 2011 to make it more unfair;-). Hans congratulations with this result and next time we can go out together again. Next goal is to make it as long as possible in the month top 10, sofar 23 months in a row and counting.

West Kirby was super windy and the course almost perfect...... Personally i don't like crashes and i really don't like them if i know upfront crashing (because of rolling waves) is the only option to break some records. My personal best was impossible to break in these conditions as 10 second runs where not easy to make, check the 500 for example. The only record to break for me today was the max topspeed, but than i had to make a kamikaze run and just accept to crash.....that's not my style. Respect for the top guys from UK and specially Martyn who went for it all the way which resulted in a 49 knots peak and some decent 10sec runs.

"The only record to break for me today was the max topspeed, but than i had to make a kamikaze run and just accept to crash.....that's not my style."

But nevertheless congrats to the guys who did...

Broad broad and even more broad !!! Well done everyone who sailed and survived - let's see what tomorrow brings :-)

Highlight of the day - Martyn's death runs with 49 knot maxs

and

Steve - the Moo - Thorps planning 360 on a 40cm speed board with a 5m speed sail.... in 40 knots of wind !! Looking forward to seeing the video

Mental!  I wish I had something smaller than my 5.8 as a cam sail.  a 5.0 would have been perfect!  The 4.0 wave sail, as great as it is just doesn't have the top end!  Mind you the speed boys who use dedicated speed kit just say my board is too big, so is the fin etc etc I find that ammusing as an 86 LTR board seems tiny compared to what I spend most of my time on (raceboard).

Enoyed today even if runs were very short due to the chop coming up so quickly - I think I have a PB as well, not bad for my birthday!

A day of max speeds because you would hit the chop of certain death before 10 seconds!  Pleased with PBmax.  Well done to Martin with his 49...well deserved I thought as I watched him cart wheeling accross the water at 40knts.

Super scary broad West Kirby! and COLD. Good day though great to see so many there in the week including the Dutchies. The man of the day though was Martyn Ogier who hit a peak PB of 49 knots which was almost as impressive as the crash after the peak.

Today was the first time that I've encountered the so called "death chop" at West Kirby. The wind was at the same broader-than-broad angle all day so there was no just escaping it. The only option in such conditions is to pick up speed towards the wall (100m), slingshot off the wind (another 100m) and then slow down if you wish to avoid a certain crash!

I opted for my 4.7m due to the wind strength in the morning; a debut outing in the UK. It was pretty much the right size whilst I tried to get to grips with the conditions and it felt pretty good considering it hasn't been tuned. Later on it was probably too small (perhaps 5.1m or 5.5m would have been better) but it was good to use my smallest race sail in the UK!

Before seeing the conditions, I was hoping to improve on my PBs but a few peaks in the mid-42's were all that I could muster today. Given the conditions, I'm pretty pleased with that anyway and it was nice of Ian to say that my runs were looking good. Surviving was kind of an achievement for me and I only had one crash, although it was a good one at 40 knots... skiding along the water on my back for around 10 meters, lol.

Many thanks to Paul Burgess for the loan of the board. I think that I will have to invest in a 20cm C3 Slingshot as it felt great on the water today. It was sad to see that Richard Hobson's GT-31 didn't record his efforts to break the big four-o. Better luck next time!

A quick session only sailed about an hour in the afternoon, but still fun

Course was broad and choppy, maybe could been on a bigger sail, as felt under powered on a run.

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West North West wind which has proved too choppy for good 10 sec runs at West Kirby.

Respect to all that went down the wall because it wasn't easy. Count the seconds from the point of bearing off into the course until 30cm chop appeared was 7 seconds, unreal. Excelleration was unbelieveable but you new what was coming.

Didn't enjoy it to tell you the truth.

It was the first time I had used the board fin and sail. Fin and sail were perfect, Jon white has posted some pics and video on Facebook, the board was perfect but I couldn't get the straps large enough to get my big hoofs in them. Tippy toeing down the course at upto 49 knots, not nice.

Used the black project X Type 40 to cope with the chop, worked amazing, I have the 45 as well but need flat water. Going to get Tom to change the name though, 40 represents the speed. 50 and 55 are more like it. Thanks Tom, Sails and Fins, boards next?

Sound like a grumpy old man here but also the cold effected me, I couldn't feel the base of my feet. Thanks to Ant for lending me a pair of wripped booties which helped but that Northern water is cold!

New straps on the board and better foot wear and we'll be in bussiness. Only did 5 runs but chuffed as hell with a 49.43 max on one gps and 49.62 on the other. Going to claim a 49.5 if its all right with everyone.

Congrats Martyn on the 2 seconds! great result.

Everything hunky dory for me, although was doing a bit of testing and only had one good gust. Seemed fairly easy to me as I'm now getting a grip on this death chop, didn't have a single spill, wasn't as bad as before. rock solid. Nearly posted as Daisy, but it wouldn't let me ;)